


Roller Skates

by orphan_account



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Gay., Multi, a bit of internalized homophobia, god i'm sorry if they're ooc i'm still working on my interpretations, mainly stenbrough but. ya know, roller skating, the f slur happens :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 10:34:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20704547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Beverly surprises the Losers Club with a special something for Stan's birthday.





	Roller Skates

Today was a rather warm day. White, fluffy clouds with the consistency of cotton balls gracefully billowed across the sky, carried gently by the crisp summer breeze. The day was almost flawless; the only downside was that not all people were a large fan of the heat that Derry brought with its summers. Trees danced elegantly in the wind, almost like they were in waves, yet the wind wasn't too strong to be bothersome. The streets weren't crowded but they weren't too empty. As Goldilocks could say, today was just right.  
The day was July 13th, 199X. Summer vacation was currently in its prime. Many children and teenagers were more than eager to enjoy the warm, perfect weather, unknowing of what lay beneath their humble town. However, they wouldn't need to worry about this. Not for another twenty-seven years. 

What was the cause of this, you may ask? A cosmic terror sleeping under the the bed that was the town of Derry, Maine. This monster emerged from under the bed every twenty-seven years and began to feed; It loved children and teenagers especially, but no, no, no. It would be improper not to rip one's innocence from their own tiny, sweaty palms before consuming their body. Salting the meat, you could say.

However, in the summer of 1988 and 1989, many things changed and a group of seven children who went by the token name _the_ _Losers Club, _ended It once and for all, or at least for another two decades. Nobody quite took notice of this, and the group continued on with their lives as normally as they could, trying their best to ignore haunting reminders as simple as a wandering, vibrant red balloon. 

Quite a few years had passed since then.

One of these members of _the Losers Club_ was Stanley Uris, and needless to say, one of the most effected. Although he hadn't necessarily lost anyone he loved to It, having your face being drained of blood by some soul-sucking, misshapen, toothy painting would be a rather unsatisfactory experience. But today he would celebrate his sixteenth birthday.

Stan couldn't be considered a big fan of parties or public places, feeling much more comfortable at a park with a pair of binoculars in his hand and a book describing different species of birds in the other. But, despite knowing this, another member, Beverly Marsh, had invited him (and the others) out into the Barrens, their resident hangout spot. He did care for his friends, though, and followed suit.

Riding his bike through the neighbourhood, he watched as a fellow friend began biking alongside him. Eddie Kaspbrak, who didn't say anything to them until they arrived at the Barrens.

"Hey, Stan." He said quickly, obviously waiting for the others to arrive in order to induce a proper happy birthday. Stan just replied with a curt nod and scanned the roads as he waited for the others before they went in.

Next around the corner came Beverly, then Richie "Trashmouth" Tozier, who called out his nickname.

"Hey! Stan the Man! Eds!" And he biked closer, slowing down until he simply held the handles of the bicycle. Richie caught Eddie's eye and opened his mouth, ready to spout bullshit. However, Eddie interrupted him.

"Don't." He muttered sharply.

"What's wrong, Eds? Not a fan of my voice?"

"Yeah- well, no, but-"

"And I," Richie began to warble. "Will always lo-"

"Just be quiet! I'll shut you up myself."

"Kinky." 

Stan sighed, his thoughts trailing to when the others were gonna arrive.

"Richie, he's right. Be quieter for once. It's Stan's birthday." Beverly spoke up. Stan wasn't as annoyed as he was tired of hearing the duo argue constantly. Either on their own were fine, but two at the same time? A recipe for death. But they were bearable, they were his friends. And he loved them all even if he did want to knock them out with a baseball bat sometimes.

"It's fine. They'll just tire themselves out." He replied in response to Beverly, who just rose an eyebrow and shrugged as another bike pulled up, belonging to none other than Ben Hanscom. Beverly gazed over to him, her eyes lighting up. The two were a couple, rather inseparable, but as sweet as they were witnessing them go googly-eyed over each other could really be exhausting sometimes. But Stan could see they were meant for each other, so he was entirely fine with whatever they did.

"What's up, Haystack?" Richie greeted him, to which he just waved in return and smiled at Beverly, who just kissed him on the cheek.

"Anyways, are we gonna get going? I'm sure Bill and Mike know the w-" Eddie firmly cut his own sentence off as the two others- Bill Denbrough and Mike Hanlon- biked around the corner. "About time..." He redirected the sentence.

"Hey! Big Bill! Mikey!" Richie called out as the two slowed down. Bill waved in return and Mike replied with a simple 'hey'. A few smiles and a second or two of silence followed before conversation was created.

"So... Happy birthday, sss-Stan." Bill had briefly smiled at him, which he returned before Bill looked to the others, and then to Beverly, as he opened his mouth to speak to her, and technically to the entirety of the club in general.

"You b-brought us here about his b-b-b..." He paused for a moment, getting caught on the word before Mike finished his sentence for him.

"Birthday. It's important, right? Otherwise you could've just called us." He said, leaning slightly on his bike.

"Well, yeah. Of course it is. Let's go. Bring your bikes, you're probably gonna need them." Beverly replied, before grabbing her own bicycle and beginning to walk down. The others followed suit, creating conversation between themselves. Stan found himself gravitating towards Bill, who looked over to him and smiled.

"S-so.. How've things been? With your dad and stuff luh-lately..." He trailed off.

"Fine. Just the same old stuff. Nothing new, except for whatever reason why Beverly's dragging us out to the barrens when the sun's just about to go down... Do you know why? Should I be expecting a surprise party or something?"

"Aha.. Uh... T-that's th-the thing. I don't k-know why she's mmmm-making us meet up. Has to do with your sixteenth, probably." He sheepishly replied to his question. So at least he knew that it was gonna be a surprise for all of them. They didn't talk much else, but Stan couldn't exactly admit he did feel... Warmer, in Bill's presence. He couldn't exactly put his finger on an exact word, but it felt strange, alright. So he stayed by his side until they got there.

It wasn't long before they finally arrived. This place had a lot of memories. Stan took in a deep breath, set down his bike, and waited for whatever Beverly had to say.

"Alright- hey. Shut up." And they all went quiet. The female was quite capable of making herself known in the group, probably considering the fact that at least over half of the others had some romantic feelings harbored for her sometime. 

"So... I've actually been planning this for a while, and... I really do hope you guys are happy with this! And you'd better be- it took forever to get a reservation."

Now Stan was expecting a restaurant or something. He only realized now he'd been holding his breath in wonder of the unknown.

"A sex dungeon?" Richie suggested, followed by an 'oof' after receiving a punch in the shoulder, courtesy of Eddie. Stan made gagging noises.

"No. I got us all a place at the roller skating rink. Neat, right?" She smiled.

What came to Stan's mind was the new rink. It'd been a pretty popular spot since it was first built, and needless to say, as fun as it sounded... Stan could not roller skate for _shit. _But he could play this off, right? It did look pretty easy anyways, at least from what he's seen. He'd be fine. No need to embarrass himself in front of the others.

The group all agreed, seeming rather eager about the idea. When Ben brought up the question about it being too crowded, she'd replied that it probably wouldn't be too bad. It was a Monday, so all lurking adults would probably be at work or drinking their thoughts away. The reservation say that they should be there by 10:00 PM, an hour or so after the sun had begun to set. The current time was 9:08 PM, so they'd need to be there soon.

"We should probably get going now. Ready?"

And the club agreed, and Stan reluctantly. This was gonna go good. It _had _to be. What's worse than wiping out in a giant rink full of people? Would he knock some strangers over? Hopefully not. He didn't think he'd be able to bear the embarrassment from it. 

So, as they all grabbed their bicycles and biked into the streets of Derry, not much was heard over his thoughts, except for Bill's token phrase, 

"Hi-yo, Silver! _Awaaaaay!"_

It wasn't long, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes of biking, until they arrived. The outside was just a plain stone building- it looked anything but exciting. But nothing about Derry could necessarily be considered stunning. The sky was dark and nothing but street lights illuminated the dark streets.

"This is it?" Eddie found himself asking, particularly repelled by the state of the building; trash was speckled along their sidewalks. 

"Duh. Where else would it be?" Beverly said, locking her bike to the designated area. They all began to migrate inside, except for Stan, who hesitantly stood there. Bill noticed this and met his eyes.

"Cuh-c-coming?" He asked, his hands on the door handle.

"Yeah. I'm coming, I just..." God, this was embarrassing. "Not big on public places. I'll be fine, Bill."

"I can... S-stay with you if you wuh-w-w-w..." He trailed off, getting caught on the word before beginning again. "I can stay with you if you wuhhh-want me to."

He felt himself flush, hoping that it wasn't visible in the dark of the night. So with a million thoughts bumbling around his head, he just parts his lips and lets the words tumble out of them.

"Sure. I'd be... Glad." He smiled. Goodness, he wanted to smash his head on the pavement right now. But he wouldn't want to bother anyone with making them clean up his scrambled brains, as Stan was quite sure he wouldn't appreciate if someone left the remainder of their head on his sidewalk.

"Hey! You two coming?" He could hear Mike's voice from the inside of the building. A reminder that this was very all real.

"Let's get going." He said, and they walked inside. 

What Stan was met with inside was, well, overwhelming. The lights were rather dim and many strobe lights darted across the building. This was _certainly_ not what he was expecting to be met with in the first place.

Feeling like a blade of grass in a forest of pine trees, he uses a lot of his willpower to get him to move his legs and walk along again as Beverly guides them all to the counter, and after gathering all of their shoe sizes, promptly confronts the person at the counter. It's not long before they're all handed a pair of roller skates.

Sitting down at a bench, Stan promptly ties his, anxiety eating away at his insides, as if it were some sort of acid.

Bill stands up, leaving him in a bit of a daze since he'd been worrying so much about the situation itself. He extends his hand forward, and Stan catches the hesitation in his blue eyes.

So, hesitantly, he takes his hand and stands up, already feeling like he's about to tip over. This was _not easy._ He'd surely underestimated this, but...

His brown eyes flick over to the hand he's holding, and... He feels safe. But then he immediately slips his hand out of Bill's. He was not supposed to feel this way, not with a boy.

He doesn't meet his blue eyes in fear that he'll catch disappointment. He lightly lifts a wobbly foot and he stamps it back down, frozen. He can't do this. He doesn't wanna ruin his birthday for everyone else, but...

"I don't know how to roller skate," He blurts out, embarrassment sharpening his tone. He can feel his pride oozing away, but.. At least it was out now.

"Oh... Why didn't you say so?" Bill replies. "I... I can.. teach you, you know."

Stan loses train of thought, only focusing on Bill now. This was a lot less worse than he thought it'd be.

"B-but you're... Guh-g-g.... Gonna h-have g-grab my ha-hand, okay?" 

Never mind.

Stan gazes to the rink, catching sight of Ben and Beverly, happily holding hands and talking to each other, and then he looks back to Bill's, flushing. He was right. This was _way_ worse than he thought it would be. But nonetheless, he extends his, and grabs it, avoiding eye contact with him as he steadies himself again. 

"I-it gets easier when you get the hang of it..." Bill speaks, gently guiding him a few centimeters and onto the rink, flashing with colourful strobe lights. "W-watch closely, okay? It's a lot like skating." He says. Stan nods, doing as told.

"So you- so you're gonna wanna lift your foot... But not too mmm-much. Just lightly." He explains. "And instead of kuh-kicking frontwards, y-you're going to kick kind o-of inwards- but not too muh-m-much, you get it? Keep your p-posture s-stuh-straight. Like you're c-constantly making a V with your s-shuh-shoes."

To be honest, Stan was more listening to him speaking than actually what he was saying, but... It was best to give it a try. So he nodded and began to kick forwards, trying his best to keep his posture well.

He begins to move, slowly but surely, feeling a bit panicky at the sudden momentum. 

"I... Is it right?"

"Y-yeah! You're doing great, s-sssss-Stan." He smiles. God, that stupid smile. Stan shakes his head and tries to focus on facing forward.

"A-and if... You're r-ready, you can put more w-wuh-w.... weight, into e-each kick, which'll muh-make you go ffff-faster."

He didn't want to seem stupid or cowardly, but brave and determined. He was going to do this, and he was gonna do it right. So he follows Bill's instructions, and tries to overcome the screaming thoughts telling him to _stop._ But there wasn't going back now.

And he begins to gain speed, surprisingly not stumbling. A smile forms on his lips, and he's forgot about any of his worries about falling.

"You must be a nah-natural, h-h-huh?" Bill chortles, sliding his hand from Stan's and beginning to shift his center of gravity, beginning to skate backwards, placing himself in front of Stan, about half of a meter away. 

"I guess so." Stan says, keeping his eyes on the floor, and then he looks up to meet Bill's blue eyes, and time feels slow. There's nothing but him and Bill, and the distant droning of _Terri Nunn_ singing _Take My Breath Away._

And he's lost for a moment, and.... He trips over something. He doesn't know what, but he trips into Bill, who squeaks.

He shuts his eyes, waiting for the thump of two bodies hitting the floor, but... It didn't happen. Stan, humiliated, opens his eyes, finding himself rolling along backwards, limp in Bill's arms. If time could get any slower, it seemed like it stopped right now.

_Not with a boy, not with a boy, not with a boy, not with a boy, not with a boy, not with a boy..._

And yet, despite everything screaming in his head that feeling this way was wrong, he springs forward and presses his lips against Bill's. 

He rights himself, feeling ultimately terrified with what's about to happen next, but what terrified him even more was the sensation of his lips pressing back, raising his hand and running it through his curly hair. It felt so thrilling, and nice- yet so scary. Two million emotions running through him, telling him to stay, another wanting to pull away. Their lips were like magnets, and as terrifying as it was, Stan found great euphoria in that moment. He wraps his arms around the other boy's neck, his eyes shut. Those few seconds were one of the best of his life. 

After what seems like decades but was only a mere moment, the two break apart.

"I-I-" Stan finds himself stammering, unknowing what to say. "T-that... I'm sorry, I- that was uncalled for-"

"It's... I-it's fine, Stan. I..." Bill trailed off.

"So you're... Not going to shove me onto the floor and call me a fag? We just..." Stan trailed off for a moment, as if the following word were forbidden. "...Kissed."

"I... Actually luhh-liked it." Bill said, as their voices slowly reduced into mere whispers. Whatever consequences would follow this, they could deal with it later. But now was too perfect of a moment for the two.

They both went silent, just rolling along the rink in each other's arms as _Terri Nunn_ sings the last lyric of her song, her voice slowly fading away. Whatever glances that were being cast towards them were meaningless, at least right now, because they were two boys in love.


End file.
